When the Calgary Stampeders defensive end figured out the all-time Hamilton Ticat, one of six men who have played in a record nine Grey Cups, was the same guy who whacked Joe Kapp in that infamous went-viral alumni luncheon video of a year ago he grinned: “He’s awesome, what a right hook. I want a picture taken of him and me.”

The 36-year-old Stewart, who was cut by the Montreal Alouettes after a dozen seasons last February, actually began his CFL career with the Stamps in 2001, got into one game and was given a Grey Cup ring before being cut and joining the Als the next season.

Although he got a ring, Stewart was not on the Stamps roster for the 2001 Grey Cup, which they won, so league statistician Steve McNeill says that, after he takes the field Sunday, Stewart will still have only eight Grey Cup game appearances; seven in Montreal and Sunday’s. That will tie him for second place with 13 other players.

“I just like the rings,” said the irrepressible Stewart, one of the league’s more gregarious players. “I’d rather have the rings than the record. I think I’ve got one more year left in me, though, so I want to go the Grey Cup in Saskatchewan next year.

“It is about winning championships, meeting your goals. This time last year, I said my goal was making it to the 100th Grey Cup. I still had the goal even though I knew there would be a good chance I wouldn’t be in Montreal, because of the way they had been treating me in the last year or two.”

Stewart didn’t sign with the Stampeders until Thanksgiving, and then had to choose between two offers, opting for Calgary, which was on a hot streak, instead of Toronto, which had just lost its third game in four outings. He wanted to join Charleston Hughes and former Ticat draft pick Corey Mace on a Calgary defensive line that showed promise and also to play for coach DeVone Claybrooks, a former Montreal teammate.

“I felt there was a little something missing and I felt I could help out and that has happened,” said Stewart, who would never be described as a shrinking violet. “We’ve jelled very well together. It’s just exciting. Before I got here we were maybe next to last in sacks. Then we tied for first for a while.”

Stewart has made a phenomenal nine interceptions in his 12-year CFL career and holds the Alouettes’ franchise record for interceptions returned for touchdowns. We will repeat: He is a defensive end.

Leagues don’t keep such specific records but it’s likely that no two, or perhaps three, defensive ends in all of pro football history have combined for nine interceptions. He thanks former Als head coach Don Matthews and then defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones for that. When they would switch from a four-man front (40) to a three-man front (30), they often wouldn’t do it by changing personnel on the field but by allowing Stewart to drop off into linebacking-type coverage at the last minute, effectively disguising the defensive set. Jones, incidentally, is now the defensive co-ordinator for the Argos.

“The coaches trusted me,” Stewart recalls. “I tell all the guys I changed the way D-ends were playing. I tell them, ‘I changed football in Canada!’ ”

Just as it is to Mosca, Canada is a special place to the Florida native. Stewart married a Montreal woman and they are expecting their first child in January.

“This country means something,” he says. “And this league means a lot. First of all, this is a beautiful country, the people have been very nice to me, they’ve been great to my family, they’ve given me an opportunity to do things that I never thought about: such as flying in to Afghanistan to meet the troops. This country adopted me. Maybe some day I’ll start coaching. I really want to help develop the Canadian athlete, especially in Quebec.

“I was talking to (Als all-star offensive tackle) Josh Bourke last night and I told him I think they lost that game to the Argos on purpose because he didn’t want to line up across from me. Josh was in my wedding party in May, Brian Bratton, too. John Bowman was my best man. A.C. and all the guys came.

“We’ll be boys forever, we’ll be fat and lazy 20 years from now, having a drink in the bar.